Just An Ordinary Girl
by DeborahSulkin
Summary: After a whole year, the campers all come back together, and everything seems just the same as it always did. But, for Caitlyn, there are some big changes, and secrets she wished she could keep. Abuse warning.


A thud echoed through her mind. It was a thud Caitlyn knew all to well. One that was often accompanied by a three year olds sobs. There they were. In a short minute Caitlyn wished that she was not herself, but she carried on down the dark hallway. Opening the door, she saw a small brunette child cowering in the corner and immediately went over to her.

"Sshh, it's okay, Princess, go hide for me." Normally these words would be a game to the child, but it struck fear in her. Immediately, she hid and just in time as the bedroom door was flung back. Caitlyn backed against the wall, shaking slightly.

"You! Why is it always you?" The man towered her as his shadow brought Caitlyn to darkness. The next thing she knew, a foot connected with her side.

* * *

A loud scream woke up the whole cabin as Caitlyn shot up in her bed, immediately falling into the arms of Mitchie, breathless.

"Caitlyn, Cait, are you okay?"

Her eyes frantically looked around to see the rest of the cabin were also awake and wearing the same look of concern as Mitchie. She mentally smiled; happy to find that she was safe and away from his clutches. Exhaling heavily with relief, her eyes caught back on Mitchie's as she repeated her name.

"Caitlyn, are you okay?" She asked again, finally seeing she had caught Caitlyn's attention.

"Yeah, sorry, just a nightmare." Immediately, she heard springs in a bed across the room creak, and it was followed by an 'umph' from Tess.

"You wanna talk about it?" Mitchie asked, making herself more comfortable on Caitlyn's bed.

"No, it's alright." Caitlyn shot down the offer and laid back down in her bed.

Everyone besides Mitchie and Caitlyn settled back in bed, but both girls knew that everyone - except Tess, would be listening carefully for what was said next.

Ten minutes of silence passed and Caitlyn felt herself falling back into the dream, well, the memory of it. Watching as if she was someone else, from the sideline. Every punch, every hit. Unable to do anything. A kick in the stomach pushed her over the edge and Caitlyn subtly moved her hand to the place where her sore rib lay. It seemed, for just a minute, that she had forgotten all about the others as her barrier fell slightly and a tear escaped from her eye. She was only pulled out of her thoughts as they were pierced by the yet again concerned voice of Mitchie.

"Caitlyn, c'mon, talk to me." She pleaded and Caitlyn attempted to hide the tear but it was already noticed by Mitchie who wiped it away for her.

"Cait, please." She begged.

"I said, I'm fine!" Caitlyn snapped.

"You obviously aren't." Mitchie said in a knowing tone. "Caitlyn Geller doesn't cry for no reason." She gave her a sympathetic look.

"Just leave me alone!" Caitlyn finally snapped with embarrassment; now, not only had Mitchie saw her crying, Ella and Peggy knew about it too. "I need to get some air." She felt the warmth of her bed leave her as she stepped onto the hard floor, quickly sliding on her pumps before opening the door and leaving, not having enough time to grab a coat or jacket. She stopped on the deck hearing Mitchie call to her.

"Caitlyn, wait!"

"Mitchie, just leave her, she will talk when she is ready." Caitlyn heard Peggy stop her best friend from chasing after her and felt satisfied that she could carry on to where she was headed, where ever that was to be. After her brief pause, she carried on leaving allowing the cold night air to consume her and making her shiver, her arms immediately spiking with goose bumps. She regretted now not grabbing her coat, or hoodie even, anything that would be a bit warmer than the t-shirt and leggings she had on.

She had wondered around the cold camp for a few more minutes before deciding exactly where she needed to go to make herself feel better. Coming up to the steps of Cabin Wave, she heard a racket of two very familiar voices.

"I want Caity!" She heard a small voice shout, the child quite obviously in tears.

"Abby, I can't get her, she's asleep, angel, like you should be." She knew that going inside would probably teach her that crying gets you what you want, but right now she did not care, not only did she want to comfort Abby, she needed the comfort back. Little Abby's eyes lit up at the sight of her big sister and her smile grew wide, erasing the former teary shake on it, but her red cheeks and nose told a different story.

"Caity!" She raced across the cabin and into her sisters stretched arms.

"Hey." It seemed that as soon as she ran into Caitlyn's arms, Abby began crying again. Sobbing into her shoulder and quickly. Quickly, Caitlyn realised that she had woken up Mitchie's mom - who had volunteered to watch Abby when she was not in a 'class' or when Caitlyn could not. "Sshh." She rocked slightly, trying to settle the miniature of herself. Once the sobs had calmed, Caitlyn sat herself on the bed, Abby still in her arms. "Abigail, Princess, wanna tell me why you aren't asleep, in bed?" She asked, not fully expecting the three year old to give her a proper answer.

"I had a nightmare." She saw her bottom lip begin to quiver again. Caitlyn immediately understood that her baby sister had been having the same nightmares as herself.

"Sshh, Princess." She paced a soft kiss on her messed up hair and placed a scruffy bear in her arms.

"But he came and he tried to get me. He got you instead!" Sobs overcame her again and she cried as Caitlyn put a pacifier in her mouth. Her eyes shifted and looked at the other person in the room, making sure she believed that Abby had just been dreaming this stuff up.

"It's okay, I'm here and I'm fine." She reassured her and brought her carefully into a cradling position, like a young child. Pushing all embarrassment aside, and wanting Abby to stop saying anything else she began to sing.

Hush little Abby don't say a word, Caity's gonna buy you a mocking bird…

She sang it just like her mother had done when she was a little baby, and calmly rocked Abby until she softly slept in her arms. It pained Caitlyn to put her down, but she knew she could not cradle her all night so she tucked her up in her bed before standing up to leave.

"You're great with her." She heard Connie compliment and a quick gulp filled her throat as she turned to face the older woman.

"Yeah." She quietly replied and looked to the floor. "I have to be." She said in a barely audible voice.

"Have you spoken to Mitchie? Only she hasn't mentioned anything to me." Connie said, trying to convince Caitlyn to talk to someone. But only the 16 year old could know of the bigger issues that would have to follow the revealing of the small thing to her best friend. When the answer did not come, Connie knew she had not mentioned her mother's death to her. "You have got to tell her." Connie's calm, sweet, motherly voice changed to a stern, strict one, and that infuriated Caitlyn.

"No I don't!" She snapped for the second time that night. "And I don't want you to tell her about it… about any of it, not even about Abby!" Her hushed shout made the toddler stir slightly but not enough to wake her up and Caitlyn took that as a sign that it would be best if she left.

Wondering aimlessly, she felt a small tear fall down her cheek again; she hated knowing what sort of effect this has on her sister, and it was always her fault. She wanted to go back to Abby, just to fall asleep with her safely in her arms, but that was not a possibility; if she went back she would have been questioned more by Connie. Her legs carried on walking, not really on a path, just any where away from their cabin, she saw another set of cabins coming up on the right and saw a small light on inside one. Caitlyn got to the steps of the cabin before noticing that it was 1:30 am, and not a very good time to go waking up the Grey Brothers. No matter how good Jason's comforting words sounded. Or how much she wanted to see Nate's sympathetic smile… or just normal smile. Actually, she knew she'd settle for just seeing Nate full stop. But she could not, so once again she walked away from a cabin settling for more aimless wondering around the camp.

A further ten minutes and Caitlyn regretted the distance she had walked away from her cabin, or any cabin as she was now freezing and wanted some form of warmth. But Caitlyn knew by the growing coldness that her legs were taking her somewhere, and it was defiantly to the lake. Looking forward, she saw the dimly lit up area of the docks lit up by the moon light, surrounded by trees and walked further towards it. It soon came to her realisation that someone has beat her there and she gave a slight groan, praying to God that it was not Mitchie or someone that she really did not want to see. Making an executive decision, she turned around and tried to walk away from the person, but stopped, hearing a familiar voice that she was quite pleased to hear.

"Caity?" She turned around to see that smile.

"Hey, Nate." She gave him a small smile and was glad she was stood in the shade of the trees as she was able to wipe the tear away before walking up to him. "Sorry, I had no clue you were here." She looked down slightly and waited for a response, but one never came so she spoke again, "Sorry, I'll just go." She gave him a small forced smile which Nate would have noticed if it was not for the lack of light on the dock.

"Don't, it's okay." He gave her a genuine smile making Caitlyn feel guilty as a result, forcing her to take a seat on the dock where he was patting it.

"What are you doing out?" Her eyes were perfectly lit by the moon light, allowing Nate to see the brown centre's and green outline amazingly.

"I came out to see the moon. It's really beautiful this time in the month." Both of their eyes looked up to the sky where the toenail shaped moon sat, surrounded by stars.

"It is really pretty." She gave a small smile that soon disappeared as she shivered while a breeze flew up her back.

"Here." Nate began taking off his own jacket to give to her.

"Oh, no, I'm okay, I don't need it. Really." Her body argued as goose bumps snaked their way back up her arms and she folded her arms over her chest to keep some of the heat in her body.

"Don't be stupid, Caitlyn." When he used her full first name, Caitlyn knew that Nate was dead serious on giving her his jacket and she knew better than to argue with him.

"Thanks." She let him put the jacket around her shoulders.

"Of course, now what brings Caitlyn Geller out here, in the freezing cold and barely clothed?" A blush came to her cheeks and she was grateful for the warmth in her cheeks.

"Oh, I just needed to get out; get some ideas for a new song. Trust me when I say it is impossible to write when Tess is snoring!" She sent a laugh, to accompany her lie in an attempt to make it seem more realistic.

"Anything I can do?" He asked, and Caitlyn shook her head.

"I kinda have it all sorted, sorry." She slightly smiled.

"Alright then." Nate gave her a smile back and both turned back to watching the night sky.

It must have been an hour or so before either of them made a movement. A yawn from Caitlyn's mouth disturbed both her and Nate.

"You should get back to your cabin." Nate suggested, not really meaning it to sound as much like an order as it did. From the speed Caitlyn shook her head back at him as a response, he knew he was not going to get any further with trying to make her return. His mind was soon taken away from Caitlyn as he succumbed to a shiver from the cold.

"C'mon, take your jacket back." She had said it nicer than she meant it, and Nate knew he had to take the jacket back so he did not argue, as much as he wanted to. Caitlyn gave Nate the jacket back and turned her attention back to the lake. Nate also turned his head back to the night but, his eyes stayed on Caitlyn, watching her closely. He was now not only worried about whatever she had came out here for but also about her catching hypothermia. And considering how small she actually was, he knew it could be possible. His worry stopped him moving, his own eyes wanting to drift shut and let him sleep, but he was not going to leave her alone on the docks. Not in this weather and definitely not in the state she was in.

"Come here." Was all he said and she gave him a really confused glance. "Come on." He watched as she nervously scooted further towards him and found it quite adorable to be honest. Caitlyn finally sat next to Nate properly and she could not feel any more awkward, well, she knew she would feel awkward if she was not so tired. She felt her eyes slowly shutting and the slight warmth she had from sitting next to Nate was soothing her to sleep and she allowed her head to loll to the side. It coming to a stop as it landed on Nate's shoulder.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." He could help but notice the raspberry scent coming from Caitlyn's hair. A piece of which was tickling his chin. He smoothed it down slightly in an attempt to move the tickling piece and to also assure her that he was there for her. A small smile played on his lips as he knew he was loving the amount of attention he was giving Caitlyn. As he looked down to see her face in the moonlight, he saw her eyes shut, calmly and realised just how tired she must have been; it really did seem like she had not slept for weeks. He became lost in her face, the way she peacefully slept and he did not know how long he stayed watching her before moving her slightly to lay on his lap, using his leg as a pillow. He carefully took the jacket back off and placed it over her like a cover and once again, felt the cold hit him.

By the time morning came around, and the camp began to wake up, Mitchie grew increasingly more worried about the still missing Caitlyn. She regretted the twenty minutes of shut eye she had decided to get that changed to about five hours of sleep; wishing now she had followed her best friend instead. Now, she was unsure where Caitlyn would be, and hoping, that even with the six hour head start, she had stayed on the site. Knowing she would get nowhere just sitting there, she got up and dressed, before setting about looking for Caitlyn or at least someone who might have saw her or knew where she may be.

The dining hall was full of people, but none of them were Caitlyn and no one out of the hundred people knew where she was or would be. Checking in the kitchens, she saw her mom who had informed her that Caitlyn had not been by this morning. Mitchie then saw the worry grow in her mom too, and it mirrored the worry she wore. The next spot to check was the dance studio which she was disappointed to find had no happy dancing - she would have even settled for crazy dancing, Caitlyn. But she was wrong and the room stood empty, unused. After a while, with her search proving no results, Mitchie went to her boyfriends cabin. To be quite honest, she was not even sure that they knew who Caitlyn was, but it was worth a shot.

"Hey Shane." She smiled as she entered the cabin, closing the door behind herself. Shane could see that even through her smile, she was worried.

"Hey, what's up?" He replied.

"Nothing…" A tilt of Shane's head and a 'do not lie' look made her spill. "I got in an argument with Caitlyn and she stormed out and she wasn't in the cabin this morning, and no one has saw her!" She took a breath, gasping for air after her word vomit fit. Shane gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, I haven't saw her." He stood up and gave her a peck on the lips. "If it's any better, I was just wondering where Nate was. He didn't seem to be here this morning either." Shane explained. Mitchie looked up towards a noise from the shower room, where Jason was re-entering. Feeling two sets of eyes on him, Jason looked from Mitchie to Shane then back again.

"What?" He ran his hand over his face checking for an unseen mark. "Is something on my face?" He panicked.

"No." Shane said, and Mitchie laughed slightly.

"Have you seen Caitlyn?" She asked, hoping for a 'yes.'

"Or Nate!" Shane piped in.

"No to Caitlyn, and Nate's down the lake, he normally is." Jason informed and went over to his bed.

"Maybe he's saw Caitlyn!" Mitchie could not have got out of the door fast enough. Shane had to grab her wrist to make her stop.

"Mitchie, slow down, I'm coming with you." He stopped her and made her wait while he went back inside for a jumper, well, two jumpers. "Here." He passed her one.

"What's this for?" She asked, but did not complain, putting it over her head and pulling it down.

"We all know how cold it is by the lake, and I didn't want you to freeze." He gave her a small, concerned smile and she returned the smile before both walking, really fast, in the direction of the lake.

Nate heard footsteps. Muffled footsteps accompanied by hushed whispers. His head began to turn around but stopped… since when was it dawn? He pondered, unsure what happened. The last thing he remembered it was dark, night time. And Caitlyn… well, Caitlyn. He paused again, and looked down in a flurry. There she was, still in his arms, fast asleep. Just to make sure she was asleep, he watched her chest for a moment. Slowly raising and falling. She definitely was asleep. Nate was slightly concerned for the way she was lying, it looked really uncomfortable, for the last thing he remembered was attempting to carry her to her cabin, but seeing as as soon as he tried to pick her up, she stirred, and that scared him, so he settled back down and let her sleep in his arms. The next thing worrying him, was the slight blue, chalky look on her face, that resembled his own, but, knowing how cold he was, he new Caitlyn too, must be freezing. Another crunch of a branch, made him remember the intruders and he quickly turned back around and met the eyes of his brother.

"We were looking for Cait, but it seems that you found her." Shane smiled seeing the relief on Mitchie's face.

"Thank God. I was panicking all morning."

"She's been out here with me all night." He informed her.

"You have sat, here, all night." She said, shivering even under the large jacket.

"Well, I did." Nate said, "Until an hour or two ago. Caitlyn, on the other hand, has been asleep for a couple more hours."

"God, you both look freezing, why the hell didn't you come back to the cabin?" Shane looked a little more than pissed now.

"I tried to carry her, but she started to wake up, and I really didn't want to disturb her." Shane rolled his eyes at his brothers words, knowing what he meant was 'she looked really pretty when she slept and I couldn't help but ogle her.' He sighed.

"Come on, let me get her." Shane bent down and picked her up, taking Nate's hoodie off of her and passing it back to him, "Put it back on." He demanded. Before, carefully, yet heroically, swooping Caitlyn out of his arms and cradling her like she was a child in his own. She was surprisingly lighter than he had expected, for a dancer he knew she should have some muscle weight. But all thoughts aside, he pushed them away to the back of his mind. Carefully, he headed back to Mitchie's cabin, both Mitchie and Nate following close behind him.

Upon reaching the steps to the cabin, Shane quickly ushered Mitchie to open the door, and as she did he entered the cabin. As soon as he did, he knew three sets of eyes were on him.

"Is she alright?" Peggy was the first to speak, watching as Shane put her in bed and wrapped the blankets around her. She became even more concerned as Shane moved away and the light hit Caitlyn, allowing her to see the pale, blueness Nate had saw before.

"Yeah, she's just tired and cold." Shane rubbed a hand on the back of his head. Peggy nodded, understandingly.

"Mitchie, I have to go, I have a class, will you text me when she wakes up and I will come here?" Nate asked, slightly worried that he was doing something wrong for leaving her like this, but he felt slightly uncomfortable being in the girls' cabin.

"Sure." She gave him a small smile and watched as he left. Slowly Shane and Mitchie followed, leaving the cabin, but not down the steps. Ella, Peggy and Tess could all hear muffled noises which was them talking. All knew that it was because of Caitlyn that they were outside, but also because they did not want everyone knowing Caitlyn's business.

"Are you sure she is going to be fine?" Mitchie heard as she re-entered the cabin, and she could not believe she heard the words of concern come out of Theresa 'Tess' Tyler's mouth.

"Um… Yeah, she had a long night by the lake, warmth and sleep will make her better.

"I have a vocal lesson to get to, but you know where I am if you want me." Peggy gave her a comforting smile before leaving the cabin.

"I best get going too." Tess left with little, alright, no explanation what so ever.

For a moment silence filled the cabin, and Mitchie stared at Caitlyn, waiting to see the slow rise and fall of her blanket that would tell her she was alright.

"Um…" The noise startled Mitchie, which in turn, startled Ella. "Sorry!" She apologised.

"It's okay, go on." Mitchie motioned for Ella to continue with whatever she was saying.

"Erm, I was just going to say that I could do my fashion stuff here, and, well, I can keep an eye on her. If you want." She kindly offered but Mitchie quickly shook her head.

"I'm fine watching her, see you at lunch." She gave her a meek smile which she quickly lost once Ella left the cabin.

It had seemed like forever that Mitchie had sat on her be, facing Caitlyn's, her clipboard in her hand, To any passers by, it looked like she was doing work once again, but Mitchie knew the truth; she was not working on the rota or a new song, even if her eyes fell on the orange page clipped to it, but the majority of the time Mitchie's eyes were on Caitlyn, making sure she was still breathing. By the time lunch time came, Mitchie had done absolutely nothing besides watch Caitlyn and wonder what was wrong with her. Lunchtime slowly passed, and Mitchie wondered why no one had came to check on her, not even her boyfriend, but her heart began to race as she saw Shane's familiar face walking towards the cabin, a tray of food in his hands.

"I thought you might want this." He smiled and placed it down on the bedside table next to her.

"Thanks." She tore her eyes away from Caitlyn to give him a smile, before letting her eyes go back to watching her sleeping best friend.

"How is she doing?" Shane asked and sighed.

"She's been asleep all morning, I can't help but worry about her, Shane!" Her volume raised ever so slightly, but she still kept hushed.

"God, she can sleep forever." Shane commented, standing awkwardly, having a slight feeling that there was something wrong with watching her as she slept.

"She must have been exhausted." Mitchie filled him in and Shane gave a knowing nod. "She's been having nightmares." She finally gave in, and decided that she needed to tell someone; it was way too much for her to keep to herself. Shane released himself from the awkwardness of being in the girls' cabin and sat down next to Mitchie, seeing she needed to talk to someone, and that someone was him.

"What kind of nightmares?" He finally asked, after realising the silence was making the fact he had sat down more awkward.

"I really don't know." Her fascination turned to a loose piece of cotton on the bed sheet. Trying to withdraw herself from the situation. "She won't talk to me. I'm her best friend and I have no clue what on earth is going on with her!" Her tone came out harsh, too harsh and far too loud. The volume hitting her as she saw Caitlyn moving under her blanket. Everything fell silent until both were certain that they had not woken her up.

"She will talk to you when she's ready, Mitchie. We both know how stubborn she is, especially with her home life." Mitchie nodded, understanding completely.

"Sorry for shouting." Apologising, her attention fell back to the now non-existent cotton piece.

"It's okay. I need to her to my class but try to eat that." He stood up to leave, giving her a meek peck on the cheek. "And don't worry." Quickly, he stopped at the door and turned around to face her, "She will tell you when she is ready." He repeated and have her a last reassuring smile before leaving. A sigh left Mitchie's lips and she went back to doing her 'work'.

Dinnertime, too, came and passed just as quickly and Shane had brought another tray of food over. This time, he stayed with her while she ate after being extremely disappointed with her efforts at her lunch, which were next to none.

"Everyone's going to mess at the lake." He informed her, not really saying it for her sake, but it was just so she would know what he was planning on doing and he really did not want to leave her.

"You should go." Mitchie finally gave him a genuine smile and quickly shoed him out of the cabin.

She was grateful that Shane had left so easily and felt better knowing that everyone else who might disturb her were there also. Delving into the brave unknown, she walked away from the door and went over towards Caitlyn's bed. Mitchie knew quite a few ways to wake the sleeping Geller. The one that causes less harm to herself was just removing Caitlyn's blanket. Peeling back the cover, Mitchie carefully hoped that it would slowly wake her up, not really wanting to startle her but as she did, she saw a slight pale back, where Caitlyn's top had raised while she was sleeping, and then she saw it… The blanket dropped from her hands back on top of Caitlyn, waking her almost instantly, but Mitchie already knew exactly what she had saw.

For a moment, Caitlyn stayed in her upright position, wondering why the hell she was woke up. In the same time, Mitchie stood in silence. Trying her best to process what she had just saw.

"Cait." She managed to stumble out. A small smile was sent to Mitchie, but she never returned it. "Caitlyn, your…" She froze and did not know what to say. "Back." She settled on just saying the area, and figured Caitlyn would know what she was on about. Unfortunately, Caitlyn, having just woken up, felt like a normal girl and she did not even remember any of the pain or bruises. A simple shake of her head told Mitchie she had no clue what she was on about.

"Last night." Cautiously, she revolved the conversation to the commotion of last night.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Caitlyn's mind pieced one and two together and she slowly figured out that she safety net she had made had fallen down.

"Your back, the bruises." Mitchie finally stuttered out and Caitlyn flew into panic mode.

"W-What?" Was all she could say.

"I saw some bruises on your back." Informed Mitchie. It seemed for the first time ever, that Caitlyn's mind was in overdrive, thinking of lies, reasons, escapes, anything. "What happened?" Mitchie was slowly, one by one, putting the pieces together

The nightmares. The bruises. Added with some of the words, and phrases, she shouts out in the middle of the night while having a nightmare. It could only point to one, well, two things. A light went off in Caitlyn's brain.

"They're just bruises from dance accidents. Everything has been a bit full on this week and I keep getting caught up and then trip myself over or something." She explained, her words coming out in a fumble of word vomit. But Mitchie knew she was lying; there was always this lip biting thing Caitlyn did when she was lying and that was exactly what she was doing now. But along with the lip biting, came the avoidance of eye contact.

"Caitlyn." A sympathetic look and tilt of the head gave Caitlyn an idea that she did not believe her, but she still said nothing. "Caitlyn, talk to me." Pleaded Mitchie. Daggers flew out of Caitlyn's eyes and stopped Mitchie's words.

"No! Stop sticking your nose in where it is not wanted! It's my private life for a reason!" The harsh words cut Mitchie like a knife, but it did not stop her from prying.

"Caitlyn, please, I'm your best friend ju-" She was cut off.

"Best friend? You're my best friend! I see you for a month of the whole year! Some best friend you are!" She said, hushed, hurt and Mitchie could hear a slight sense of fear in her voice.

"Fine then!" Exclaimed Mitchie, and she stormed away, out of their cabin. Unsure where to go she headed to the cabin she knew she was always welcome in. Her mom's. She would have been at Shane's if it was not for him being at the lake. Nearing her mom's cabin, Mitchie could hear crying, crying that was exactly like her own but smaller, quieter, more muffled. She had no clue of the visitor in her mom's cabin, and immediately thought that her mom was upset too. The cabin door slammed open, and, intrigued, Mitchie watched what she could only describe as an auburn haired child scrambling down the side of the bed.

"Oh no, he's here! Caity, please save me. Please save me. Caity, please." The child begged and hid in the shadow of the bed. "Please, Caity, you have to save me." Through the sobs, Mitchie could hear her words, barely, but the name 'Caity' stood out to her. She cautiously stepped around the bed and saw her shake even more.

"Hey, sweetie, sshh, what's wrong?" The watery eyes of Abby met Mitchie's as she crouched down to meet her small height. Abby's body relaxed slightly as her rocking slowed down and her arms loosened around a picture she was previously clutching. "Hey, sweetheart, what's wrong?" She repeated and sat crossed-legged in front of Abby, tucking a piece of her short hair behind her ear, she pretended to miss the girl's reluctance to her presence.

"He… he came for me again!" A new wave of tears came down her face.

"Who, sweetie? Who came for you?" Ignoring Abby's fiddly habit - knowing she was uncomfortable and nervous, she opened her arms, and held onto Abby with a tight hug, enticing her further into her lap the picture still in her hand. "Who?" She asked again.

"Daddy." A small, quiet, terrified reply came. "Caity saved me from him." Mitchie was one hundred percent sure she had said 'Caity' now. "He hurts her because she saves me!" She was now in utter shock and just held the crying child.

"It's alright, it's going to be alright." She softy rocked her. As she did the picture fell to the floor, and there lat a falsely smiling family. The brown-haired dad showed eyes of hatred and anger. A small blonde woman stood next to him, looking fragile and in her arms lay a bundle which was quite clearly a baby and sitting on a chair underneath the parents was… Caitlyn. Mitchie knew it had to be her because the child looked exactly like how Caitlyn had looked on the first year of camp. She worked out the times and put Abby's age at around three.

"What's your name, sweetie?" She asked, trying to push all horrific thoughts to the back of her mind of all the information Abby had just given her and Caitlyn.

"Abigail." She replied with a small frown.

"Okay, Abigail, I'm Mitchie, I'm Caity's best friend." She saw Abby's eyes light up at the mention of her big sister.

"I want Caity." The sternness overfilled the fear in her voice.

"Alright." Carefully, holding Abby on her right hip, she stood from the floor and left the cabin. She had no clue where Caitlyn would be now or even if she had actually ran off after their argument, but her cabin seemed like the best place to start looking.

Nearing the cabin, Mitchie saw the lights on and voices talking away which was the complete opposite of what it had been like during the day. Cradling Abby still, she cautiously opened the cabin door and as the door creaked, the cabin fell silent and all eyes fell on the child Mitchie was carrying.

"Hey, nice kid." Shane joked.

"Yeah…" She looked around the cabin and saw there was no sight of Caitlyn. "Have you saw Caitlyn?" All eyes turned to the toilet in the cabin as the door opened to reveal Caitlyn standing there. Her once chirpy face and skin colour drained as she saw the girl Mitchie was holding. Abby's eyes lit up as she saw her big sister looking perfectly fine. She jumped out of Mitchie's arms and clung to Caitlyn's legs.

"Caity, he came to get me and I couldn't find you!" She began crying again. Caitlyn, well aware of everyone else watching her, scooped Abby up and began to leave the cabin until she head utter fear in her baby sister's protests.

"No, Caity, please don't make me go out there!" She tried to claw her way back into the cabin.

"Okay, okay." She brought her back into the cabin; seeing her yawn assured Caitlyn that she would soon be asleep.

"You can't make me go." She still protested.

"Abby, I'm not making you go anywhere. Although, I don't see what is wrong when you were out there with Mitchie."

"I like Mitchie, she made him go away. You never make him go away. He just hurts you!" More sobs broke from Abby and she threw her head into Caitlyn's chest.

"Sshh, it's okay. He isn't here, I promise." her words came like a comfort blanket to Abby but Caitlyn felt like her mouth had betrayed her as everyone in the room became clearer. Her whole body tensed up seeing all eyes on her, but relaxed as she felt Nate's hand at her lower back. His index finger rubbing in slow circles. She had not noticed until now but she was acting just like the vulnerable Abigail did. Her knee's pulled up as far as they could, cradling Abby the way she had cradled the photograph, and she was rocking slightly. No one knew if it was a way of Caitlyn comforting herself or if she was rocking Abby. A soft, quiet hum was heard in the tune of 'hush little baby' and it seemed that within seconds of the humming starting, the quiet snores of Abby came. Caitlyn felt comforted just sitting there with Abby I her arms, she knew that while holding Abby, no one was going to ask any questions. But her comfort was removed as Nate stood up and pried Abby from her arms before setting her down in Caitlyn's bed.

"What the…" Came Shane's ice breaker, also known as his own individual 'well this is awkward'. A gulp and deep breath broke the silence.

"That's Abby, she's my three year old sister." Caitlyn believed that was a great place to start.

"I never knew-" Caitlyn cut Mitchie off.

"I never said." She informed her. A small glare passed between Mitchie and Caitlyn

"Caitlyn, I think we need to talk outside." Mitchie said sternly, but she was once again sent a glare telling her to shut up. "Fine, I'm just going to say it then. You and your sister are having the same nightmares and from what Abby told be tonight, you're getting a bad side of beating, and the bruises on your back prove it!" Nate felt Caitlyn's back tense under his fingers and knew it was true. He broke inside, wishing to have erased the pain from his Caity. Not understanding how anyone could possible hurt her.

"Don't lie, it doesn't suit you." Glared from Caitlyn's eyes were no longer a warning, it was just a hateful glare and Mitchie swore Caitlyn's eyes turned black, but she needed to get the truth out of her.

"C'mon, Caitlyn, I now you must be broken inside, terrified every time a door slams. We both know it's true. What I don't get it why your mom would leave you with him. How could any mom leave her children with him?" The once black eyes of Caitlyn turned back to their normal colour, but water was slowly building on the bottoms of her eyes and Caitlyn knew if she blinked, the tears would fall. She felt a slight bit of relief looking at anyone but Mitchie, and seeing only her close friends in the cabin: Nate, Shane, Peggy, Ella and Jason. But she could not let any of them see her cry, so as fast as she could, she got up and raced out of the cabin and for the second time she ran to the lake.

"Way to go Mitchie!" Nate huffed and followed in Caitlyn's direction pausing as he sat her sat on the dock, quite obviously crying. He walked further towards her and he could begin to hear what she was saying:

"Why did you do this o me? Leave me and Abby alone, with him. I can't take the pain and beatings anymore, mom. I need you to make it stop. Please, do anything to make it stop. Help me and Abby. If you're listening please send me a sign." When nothing happened, Nate took it as his cue.

"Hey." He quietly said, trying not to startle her. When Caitlyn did not move or respond, he sat next to her. "What's going on with you, Caity?" His hand travelled to her shoulder and he puller her ever so slightly closer.

"Nothing, really." She met his eyes with hers to try and assure him that she was find, but as Nate gazed into them, he saw them pleading for help.

"Caitlyn, keeping your sister secret, talking to your mom, the nightmares. The bruises, Caity." Giving her a pitying look, Caitlyn took her gaze away from his.

"What bruises?" She tried to play innocent.

"Caitlyn, I have saw them myself, I just thought you had fell over in dancing or something. I guess I was far from the right guess." Making a mental note to himself, Nate realised that he was never going to get a true answer out of her. Silence filled the night once again as both watched the calm movements of the water, neither daring to move or talk.

Only ten minutes passed but behind Caitlyn's teary eyes a whole lifetime of pain was being relived. And then it all stopped. She mentally saw pain and fear in her sister's eyes, she knew she had to get back to her cabin and once again, save Abby. She began to stand up. Nate watched every move she made very carefully and, he bubbled with anger upon seeing a scab forming over a cut that was not very big but Nate could tell it was very deep. It was enough to make Nate grab her hand; stopping her from walking away any further.

"Caitlyn, this is wrong!" He too stood up, just making himself slightly taller than her. "Caity, please, you need to talk to us, we can make it stop!" Caitlyn tried to pull away so he held her arm tighter, worried if it was hurting her, but knowing she had been through worse.

"No!" He voice cracked and Nate could tell that she was on the brink of tears. "No! Just leave me alone, I don't want to talk!" There the now were, free falling down her face.

"Caitlyn, this isn't right, just talk to me please!" His grip loosened slightly, hoping she would not run away. To his surprise she did the exact opposite, burying her head in his chest sobbing heavily. Softly, he sat back down on the dock, carefully pulling Caitlyn down with him. Her sobs still heaving in the air.

It was now ten pm and Caitlyn's sobs had calmed down to just silent tears falling down her cheeks.

"He drinks far too much." A timid voice struck him, but Nate said nothing, fearing that he would startle her. "And he never stops. It's all my fault. I make him mad. I mention mom. He never likes it when I mention her. Never. He stays out, really late and comes home stinking of it. I know he is going for Abby, who wouldn't go after her? The weaker one, he is just a bully. I stop him. Make Abby hide. Let him take his anger, his frustration about mom out on me so she doesn't have to feel the pain, but it's still there. In her eyes. I know that it isn't just the one time he hit her that is the only pain she sees. She also sees my pain. Feels my hurt. She is just three! No three year old should see that!" She cried out again and buries her sobs in his shirt. Nate realises that Caitlyn's only concern is Abby. No matter what hurt has come to Caitlyn, nothing will hit her harder than Abby's pain.

"Why didn't you tell someone?" There is a hint of anger in his voice, and he tried to hide it, the anger being at himself for not being there.

"I didn't want anyone to know. I didn't want to have to see the pitying eyes all summer. I just wanted to be an ordinary girl for the summer." She sounded a bit calmer and her head raised from his now soggy chest.

"You will never be an ordinary girl, Caity, never." The words would have hit her like a sword if it was not for what he said next, "Because, to me, you are perfect. Beautiful, amazing, selfless Caitlyn Geller." His brown eyes locked in her own and both moved forward, locking in a kiss. Cautiously, Nate moved his hand to her waist and he felt Caitlyn smile into the kiss. Both knew she had not done that in a while and Nate smiled back before pulling apart.

"Wow." Was all Caitlyn said.

"What?" Panic came from Nate.

"Nothing. It's just that kissing you made everything feel better. I liked it, even for a short moment. I never wanted it to end." He smiled sweetly at her.

"It never has to." His lips mashed with hers and Caitlyn, for the first time in months feels like the luckiest girl alive.

"Once again, wow." Nate laughed, and pulled away.

"What now?"

"I can't believe I just kissed Nate Grey, band member of Connect 3!" She giggled slightly, taking the mick, "I must be really lucky."

"Not lucky, just ordinary." He referred back to earlier. Caitlyn once again kissed him and said against his lips:

"I liked it better when you were calling me perfect." He laughed again and replied back, still in the kiss:

"Oh, you are perfect."

* * *

**Sorry for any typo's or any mistakes as I wrote this very early in the morning without a beta reader. I also know it's a very clichéd ending, but it was cute and it also leaves an opening for a sequel which I am not promising, and I probably will not write, but the opportunity is there.**

**This is for my Emmy-Lou, she know's who she is.**

**Please Read and Review. Xx**


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